People's Republic of China

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The People's Republic of China is the largest country in East Asia and the third or fourth largest country in the world. With a population of 1.3 billion, it also has the largest population in the world, as well as the largest military. It was established in 1949, after Mao Zedong won a victory over the Kuomintang Government forces after years of Civil War. It is considered an emerging superpower, due to it's economic, military and social expansion.

The People's Republic of China is one of five factions in Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction. The PLA forces sent to North Korea are commanded by commanded by Colonel Zhou Peng, and are tasked with fulfilling the goals of the PRC's leadership in the conflict: set up a pro-Chinese regime in North Korea and ultimately annex the country into the People's Republic of China. This naturally puts them at odds with both Korean nations--South and North.

The Chinese have access to a massive array of firepower, much of which is placed at the player's disposal when on Chinese missions. Col. Peng repeatedly sends the player on missions that his forces are too slow or unable to complete with sufficient precision, such as assassinations and other covert operations. When working for the Chinese, jobs will often involve work against SK or NK forces, and occasionally against the Russian Mafia as well. Colonel Peng regards the North Koreans as an enemy to be conquered, the South Koreans- particularly Agent Mitchell Buford- as a worthy foe, but holds the Russian Mafia in extreme contempt, calling them "scavengers" and remarking that they "infiltrate into all manner of war zones, looking for profit among the dead and dying."

The People's Republic of China is second only to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) in terms of the isolated nature of its goals and the antagonistic relations it has with other factions. The PRC aims to annex North Korea, block South Korea from reuniting Korea under its flag, and enforce law and order and put an end to the massive looting, war profiteering, and organized crime going on in a chaotic North Korea. The only faction that China is not at war with by the end of the game is the Allied Nations, foremost among whom is the United States of America. The United States has a long-standing military alliance with South Korea, but American forces operating under the AN flag cannot join SK forces fighting against China without breaking the coalition effort to end the North Korean threat, which China is officially assisting with.

Although officially part of the Allied coalition, the Chinese forces operate independently and do not follow the standard AN equipment patterns - they wear winter/urban camouflage fatigues and use Type 56 assault rifles, Type 69 RPGs, and RPD machine guns extensively. PLA Officers carry Type 85 SMGs and some PLA Soldiers carry heavier weapons, such as Anti-Tank and Anti-Air missiles. Being the largest single military force in the world, the PLA has access to some exceptionally powerful vehicles - these include a wide range of heavily-armed APC and tank variants and heavy-lift helicopters. The PLA also features vast artillery coverage and supplies the Fuel Air Bomb air strike.

Open war has broken out between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Korea by the game's end; though the mercenary can influence the fighting greatly by working for the Chinese or South Koreans, causing the war to swing in favor of one nation or the other, the official ending is that the PRC emerges victorious in the war with South Korea, thus succeeding in its goal of annexing North Korea. Colonel Zhou Peng, tasked with securing North Korea for the People's Republic of China, would never have been promoted to general and put in charge of the Chinese expeditionary force to Venezuela if China had lost.

China returns in Mercenaries 2, this time seeking to control the oil supply of Venezuela, which puts them at odds with both the Allied Nations and Universal Petroleum. Lead by Zhou Peng, now promoted to the rank of General, China is less covert in it's ambitions than the Allied Nations, in spite of this, China appears to have more support for their actions. China brings an impressive amount of ground-based firepower to bear, with a number of powerful tanks and APCs.